"With the race looking more and more likely to grow bitter and messy, and maybe even wind up in a contested convention, the former president..."

"... and those around him are increasingly sure he will need to play a prominent role in bringing the party back together and calming its tensions later this summer, including perhaps in Milwaukee, where the party’s meeting is scheduled to be held in July. So he is committed to not allowing his personal thoughts to dribble out in the meantime, directly or via leaks, conscious of how any sense that he’s taking sides in intraparty disputes could rock the primary in the short run and potentially undermine his ability to play this larger role in the months ahead.... While he’s following the race by reading newspaper reports, he’s been disengaged with its day-to-day dynamics, sure that he’ll have to catch up on them later this year anyway — he doesn’t even make a point of watching the debates... Even if he felt like speaking out against Sanders specifically, he knows such a statement would likely ruin his standing on the left and almost certainly divide the party just when it needs uniting, according to multiple people who’ve spoken with him about the race. Obama and those around him 'have a very clear understanding that if they put their finger on the scale right now, all of a sudden half of the Democratic Party hates him,' an influential Democrat who keeps in touch with Obama explained.... This time around, Obama has sought to make sure the full field of Democratic candidates understands his intention to be both neutral and passive.... Obama’s aversion to TV news hasn’t abated now that he has enough time on his hands that he’s compared himself to Neo, the time-slowing Keanu Reeves character from The Matrix, say people who’ve been spending time with him. If he’s in front of a television, they say, he’s probably watching sports."

From "What Obama Is Saying in Private About the Democratic Primary" (NY Magazine).

ADDED: I feel like Obama — I have an aversion to TV news and I am taking a position of cruel neutrality.